Art in Bloom 26
This year I had the honor to participate in Art in Bloom at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the event, it takes place at the end of March and in my mind, is the gateway to spring. Local florists/ artists/ flower farmers alike apply and submit their portfolios for a chance to participate. If selected, you are blindly assigned a piece of artwork featured in the museum to recreate through your interpretation and floral expression.
This event started at the museum 3 years ago, and my cousin Brooke and I attended. It was so inspiring and we had such an amazing time that I decided I would love to be a part of it. The following year I saw that the applications had opened and sent in my application. Being newer to floral design and having never used wholesale flowers before due to my focus mainly being on the joy of growing flowers and learning to arrange, I was a little out of my comfort zone. Most of the participants had been established flower shops and wedding designers. But I thought, why not! I found out the news that I was selected and was SO excited!
Fast forward to this year, I had such a great time last year that I applied to participate again. This year whenever we selected our artwork it was virtually because of the big snowstorm in February. We went in alphabetic order to select a number that had an unknown artwork connected. I was last so did not get to select a number, and lo and behold was assigned my piece “Flaming Youth”. I was absolutely giddy. My husband and I had gone to the museum to scope out the new exhibit of Florida Highwaymen and also potential selections they may choose. I had admired Flaming Youth and it’s bold , unique energy that it exhibited. I was EXCITED!
After I knew what my painting was, it was time to get to work. I knew that I wanted to concentrate more on the design of the flowers to mimic the natural movement of the subject’s body. Red is such an attractive and vibrant color, I definitely wanted this to be my main palette. But deciding how to incorporate the dark, moody background and sphinx-like statue that she was leaning on, and suspending smoke rings, was the biggest part of my challenge.
I needed inspiration so logically I went to the best place I could think of , my local antique mall. The artist often thrifted and antiqued items for her still lifes and lucky for me, I find solace in browsing discarded and deceased people’s items. I had many ideas and variations of what to use and do, but luckily, my husband being my sounding board and a logistical person, guided me to the direction that we landed on. Red glassed vase items for the vessels because proper hydration is a large bulk of what needs to be considered.
